Place in the Homeland?

Nilay Kılınç is a social anthropologist and an ethnographic filmmaker with an interdisciplinary background and focus on migration, mobilities, diasporas and transnationalism. She holds a postdoctoral researcher position at the Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies, University of Helsinki. She is one of the two representatives of Finland in immigration and integration matters at the Nordic Migrant Expert Forum under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Her current research (2023-2026) is funded by KONE Foundation and explores the democratic participation of creative migrants in Finland. She has extensively researched the second-generation Turkish-German migrants’ return migration to Turkey and highly skilled migrants from Turkey in Europe, particularly in the Nordic region. She has published solo and co-authored articles in journals such as Ethnic and Racial Studies, Demographic Research, Nordic Journal of Migration Research and Global Networks and recently contributed to two edited book volumes; The Routledge International Handbook of Transnational Studies (2024, M. Fauser & X. Bada eds.); Handbook of Return Migration (2022, R. King & K. Kuschminder eds.). Russell King is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Sussex and Visiting Professor in Migration Studies at Malmö University. He has been teaching, researching and publishing on migration for fifty years. At Sussex he was the founding director of the Sussex Centre for Migration Research and established the university’s MA and PhD programmes in Migration Studies. Supported by several research grants, he has coordinated research projects on return migration, international retirement migration, remittances and gender, international student migration, EU youth migration and the formation of scientific diasporas. He has published papers in most of the leading human geography and migration journals. His most recent books are: Anxieties of Migration and Integration in Turbulent Times (Springer, 2023, co-editor), Onward Migration and Multi-Sited Transnationalism (Springer, 2023, co-editor), Handbook of Return Migration (Edward Elgar, 2022, co-editor) and Young EU Migrants in London in the Transition to Brexit (Routledge, 2022, co-author).

• List of Figures and TablesPreface and Acknowledgements1. What is Second-generation ‘Return’ Migration?2. Return to Turkey: The Importance of Place3. The Turkish-German Second Generation: Family Migration Histories and Second-generation Lives in Germany4. Why Return? An Exploration of Routes and Decision-making5. Earning a Living: Transcultural Capital and Building a Career6. Gender, Family and Marriage in Return Migration7. Transnational Identities and Activities in Post-return Lives8. The Future: At home in the Homeland?ReferencesIndex

This book highlights the primary factors driving the return migration of second-generation German-Turks to their ancestral homeland. Through in-depth interviews with returnees in Istanbul, Antalya and other places in Turkey, Nilay Kılınç and Russell King provide a nuanced perspective on this phenomenon. Its compelling narrative captures the reader's interest, presenting a comprehensive picture of the motivations behind the return of German-Turkish second-generation migrants. These motivations include economic incentives, opportunities for higher education, lifestyle changes, feelings of nostalgia and the desire for emancipation. The book combines rigorous research with engaging storytelling, making it not only informative but also a pleasure to read.